That's because all the electrical needs of the NASCAR XFINITY Series VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 on Sept. 5 and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bojangles' Southern 500 on Sept. 6 will be met with 100 percent Green Power distributed by Pee Dee Electric Cooperative and generated by state-owned utility Santee Cooper.
"We are pleased that our Labor Day weekend NASCAR races will be 100 percent powered by green energy courtesy of Pee Dee Electric Cooperative and Santee Cooper," track President Chip Wile said in a written statement.
"For years, Darlington Raceway has been focused on green initiatives so this only makes sense for us. We pride ourselves on doing as much as we can in our sport and in the community to manage our carbon footprint. It's the right thing to do," Wile said.
Pee Dee Electric Cooperative has been a champion of Green Power from Santee Cooper.
"Growing up in the Pee Dee, everyone always got excited as race weekend grew close," said Jeff Singletary, Pee Dee Electric Cooperative vice president of marketing. "At Pee Dee Electric, we're proud to team up with Santee Cooper and the Darlington Raceway to bring this exciting Green Powered event to the area. The clean, renewable energy produced by sustainable methods is, once again, going to power the 'Granddaddy of 'em all,' the Bojangles' Southern 500."
Santee Cooper currently produces 28 MW of clean power from sources including six landfill methane gas generating stations, four solar arrays and one wind turbine.
Green-e Energy, the nation's leading independent certification and verification program for renewable energy, certifies Santee Cooper Green Power, meaning it meets strict and specific national consumer and environmental standards.
Santee Cooper, South Carolina's largest power prodcuer, is the only utility currently generating renewable energy and delivering it to the state's electric grid, and Pee Dee Electric Cooperative promotes Green Power sales to its 30,000 members.
"Since we began generating Green Power in 2001, Santee Cooper has continued to be the state's pace car in renewable energy," said Santee Cooper President and CEO Lonnie Carter.
"Santee Cooper wants to continue expanding our Green Power program through innovative partnerships such as this one with Darlington Raceway and Pee Dee Electric Cooperative. I congratulate them both for going the extra mile in supporting renewable, South Carolina-generated Green Power," Carter said.
For additional information:
